Dana took a breath to talk, but he began again before she could start. “I worry about you, though. You let me tie you up much earlier than you should've. You were safe with me, so it worked out okay, but if I'd been one of those assholes who don't always respect a safeword you could've gotten hurt, and I'm not certain you had enough information to know I was trustworthy, at the time. So, I want you to promise me you'll be safer with other people than you were with me. I'll give you some guidelines to follow, and you can run them by Kirsten."
She smiled. “I'm touched by your concern, but if you'll recall, we worked together for months before our first date. Yes, I let you restrain me the first time we played, but I'd seen you in action enough to know your character. You can tell a lot about a person by the way he treats...” She trailed off and started over. “You don't see anyone as insignificant. Whether it's the guy who mows your lawn, or the craftsmen working in your home, you learn all of their names. For the ones you see regularly, like the people who care for your yard, you remember their children's names, you find out if they like to fish, or play golf, and you ask them about these things. So yes, I trusted you to bind me the first night. I'll look at your guidelines, but I assure you I won't be stupid."
"Okay,” he said, appearing uncomfortable with the praise. “If you have another friend who can be your safe call that's fine, but I can handle it if you don't."
"That's the next part—I think I have someone, but I won't know until... let me start at the beginning. I had a good friend in Nashville, I'm pretty sure Garnet only let me be as close to him as I was because he's gay, but for whatever reason, Garnet supported our friendship. We emailed, we talked on the phone, and when we were at the club for social occasions, Garnet let us hang out together if I wasn't already in a deep headspace when we arrived. They were sociable with each other, and had mutual respect, but they weren't close. Sir Brent was my friend."
She paused as the servers arrived with their food, waiting until they left to continue. “I hadn't talked to him since before Garnet...” She still had trouble putting the word died after his name so she trailed off and started over, her words coming faster as her anxiety grew. “I've got a different computer now, so I didn't have his contact information anymore. I looked him up, and we talked on the phone for hours. He's in a relationship, and he invited me to come to Nashville in the morning to hang out with him and his partner for the day, and—if I'm up to it—go as their guest to the club tomorrow evening. I'm welcome to their spare bedroom if I want to stay the night, since we'll get in late. Sir Brent is a highly respected Dom. You know how each club has a handful of mentors everyone respects? If I decide to play, he'll make sure I'm safe."
"His partner is submissive to him?"
"Yes. Sir Brent's a demanding Top and plays rough; I imagine his partner is very submissive."
She picked up her fork and began eating; figuring she needed to hear from Zach, get a feel for how he felt before she said anything else. They ate in silence for longer than she was comfortable, but she bit her tongue and gave him time to think.
The waiter refilled Dana's water, and when he walked away, Zach said, “Would it be out of line for me to request Brent's name and address, a text letting me know you've arrived safely, and your decision of whether to go to the club or not? I can't demand these things, so I'm asking."
She looked at him a second, and quickly realized, “It's not a control thing. You're worried about me. You want to know I'm safe."
He gave a terse nod and she let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, relaxed muscles she hadn't known were tense. “In that case, I'll give you more than you're asking. I'll text you when I arrive, and I'll give you a phone call when I make the decision of whether to go to the club or not. If I choose to go with them, I'll either call or text you when we get back to their place, and I'll call you once I'm on the road coming home the next day. I won't give you his full name, but I'll email you his address before I leave."
"Thank you. I trust you'll be safe with someone you consider a friend. But it's a long drive."
Dana talked on the phone to her sister most of the way to Nashville, catching up on her nieces’ latest antics and accomplishments, and sharing the vanilla parts of her budding relationship with Zach. It felt good to talk it through, to hear from her sister he seemed like a nice guy, and it was okay to ease into it slowly, to get a feel for things as she went. She got off the phone at Murfreesboro, as she'd need to pay attention to her GPS guiding her the rest of the way in.